Silicon-on-insulator wafers have proven to be one of the most successful platforms for integrating multiple optical components into a single device. Since lasers are the source of the light signals that are processed by these devices, it is highly desirable to integrate lasers into these devices. These lasers generally employ group III-V materials as the gain medium. Group III-V materials include one or more group III materials and one or more group V materials. Integrating these lasers into a silicon platform generally requires that a group III-V material is grown on another material that includes or consists of silicon. Attempts to grow group III-V materials on a material that includes or consists of silicon have not been successful due to the lattice mismatch between the silicon and the group III-V materials. As a result, the lasers are generally not integrated into the device but are instead built on a separate platform and then attached to the device. The need to use external lasers with the optical device introduce costs, complexity and inefficiency into the device. As a result, there is a need for a laser that can be integrated into a planar optical device.